Dublin tipped as property hotspot

Dublin has been tipped as Europe's top property investment hotspot for the year ahead.

The Irish capital will undergo a renaissance from property pariah to star market for commercial investors, according to a report by think tank Urban Land Institute (ULI) and consultants PwC.

In the survey of 500 influential real estate experts across Europe, Dublin came out number one for best cities in which to buy property.

The city jumped from from 15th place in last year's poll.

Joe Montgomery, chief executive of ULI Europe, said the resurgence of investment in Ireland would be one of the key stories in the property investment world this year.

"Investor appetite in Dublin has been growing over the past 12 months with significant volumes of international capital chasing the best assets," he said.

But the think tank said interest was already moving to Spain, where a turnaround in fortunes was expected after the launch of the country's equivalent of the toxic assets agency Nama - known as Sareb.

The Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe report said investors were expected to plough billions of euro into the Dublin commercial property market in the coming months as confidence about economic recovery grew.

It forecast that returns on investment would be the second best in Europe, after Munich, during the year.

The report said Dublin had been transformed from a "no-go" location among investors only two years ago to one of the hottest markets in Europe among both homegrown and international investors.

The most expensive cities in the world

Let us send you our Newsletter

Our editors will email you a roundup of their favourite stories from across AOL